System of assembling shoes



Oct. 10, 1933. M, Q FROST 1,929,738

SYSTEM OF AS-SEMBLING.' SHOES4 Filed Aug. 24, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 add.; Y

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Patented Oct. l0, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SYSTEM OF ASSEMBLINGlSHOES Application August 24, 1931. serial No. 558,923

4 Claims.

This invention, relates generally to the manufacture of shoes, andvparticularly to a system of arranging the operators stations for theattachment ofwooden heels. This application is in 5 part a continuationof my prior co-pending application, Serial No. 530,266, filed April 15,1931, as to common subject matter. Letters Patent 1,863,557 which hasbeen issued to me covers.V

another modiycation of the present system. I0 It has been the customarypractice in shoe factories heretofore to transport shoes by cases fromone operation station to the next succeeding operation station, it beingthe usual practice to transport the shoes in a rack which is generallyadapted to accommodate an entire case of shoes. In accordance with thispractice an individual rack `generally accommodating an entire case ofshoes, is positioned adjacent the station of each individual operator ofthe shoe factory andthe operator who is assigned a particular rack ofshoes ordinarily7 completes all of the required operations upon theparticular rack or case of shoes before it proceeds to another operatorfor a different series of operations. It is apparent, therefore, that inshoe factories which are thus operated a great many cases of shoes areheld up at the various operators stations and there are in factrelatively few of these shoes which are at any time being operated upon,the remainder thereof, as will be understood, remaining idle. Inaccordance with the present invention, however, it is intended to breakup the various racks or cases of shoes and allow the same to proceedeither independently or in small quantites to a number of operators whomay concurrently operate upon the same case, and each shoe upon beingcompleted at one st ation may immediately proceed to the nextsucce'edingstation for the required operation so that the delay which has beenheretofore g experienced is thus avoided and with the system of vthepresent invention it is apparent that various shoes constituting thesame case may be in position for various different operationsconcurrently in View of the `fact that the shoes are progressedindividually rather than collectively as a case, as has been heretoforethe practice.

The object of this invention generally stated is to provide a system forthe manufacture of shoes which the shoes upon the completion of eachoperation areindividually progressed to position for the nextoperation."

A further object of this invention is to provide an arrangement ofoperators stations which will permit the employment of a greater numberof operators whose operations require a substantially longer period oftimeand a lesser number of operators whose operations may be completedwith relative rapidity.

A particular object of this invention is to provide a system ofoperations for the fitting and attachment of shoe heels, particularly ofthe high or wood type.

yA more specic object of this invention is to provide a system ofarranging the operators of a wood heel attaching unit in which eachindividual operator will be continuously occupied with the same duties.and in which upon the completion of the operation at one station theshoes may be individually progressed to the next succeeding station. 70

Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art when thefollowing description is read in connection with Vthe accompanyingdrawings throughout the various views of which like reference charactersdenote similar parts in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatlcal plan view showing an arrangement ofoperators for the attachment of wooden heels in accordance with oneembodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatical view showing an arrangement 'of the woodheel attaching unit illustrated in Figure 1 in relation to the precedingoperations in a shoe factory.

Generally stated, in accordance with this invention, there is provided aplurality of operators, such as for instance the wood heel fltters,Whose operations require a considerable period of time, and arranged inconvenient position to receive work from all of these Wood heel ttersmay be provided a single heel attacher, it being understood that theperiod of time required for the attachment of a wood heel isconsiderably shorter than that required for the fitting thereof.k As thesystem proceeds, the number of operators who may be provided vfor theaccomplishment of a Aparticular operation are preferably varied inaccordance with the period of time required for the respectiveoperations, there being more operators for accomplishing the sloweroperations than for accomplishing the rapid operations.

Referring now particularly to Figure 1 for an illustrative embodiment ofthis invention, the shoes may, from another department of vthe shoefactory, be conveyed from the shoe supply into the room illustrated, bymeans of a suitable conveyor or chute l, which in the present instanceoperates to convey the shoes from the bottoming room and deposits themupon a suitable table 2. An operator may be stationed adjacent the table2 for removing the -shoes therefrom and positioning them in the usualrack, employed in the shoe factory and adapted to convey an entire caseof shoes, such as for instance 3; When the opera- ,continuous operationand in accordance with the present system sufficient shoes will beavailable to supply an additional rack in position 4, when-one rack hasbeen completed. This step in the procedure, is however, preliminary tothe system of this invention which will now be described.

After the operations upon the entire rack of shoes 4 have been completedby one of the levelers.

5, the racks 4 are removed therefrom to a suitable position such as forinstance adjacent a wood heel supply table 6 where workmerr'may be pro.

vided, who in accordance with the order number or other identificationof the rack which has proceeded from the leveler, will supply thereto asuitable number of wooden heels which have proceededto their positionfrom the usual storage room.

After the operator 6 hasaccumulated the heels corresponding to theshoes'on the rack adjacent the station, theshoes of the particular rackmay be distributed among a plurality of heel tters with theircorresponding heels. For instance, one rack may be distributed among thegroup of heel tters 7 and a different rack may be distributed among thegroup of heel tters 8. It is apparent, therefore, that there isprovideda series of heel fitting stations which are arranged in groups 7 and 3so that a single rack of shoes may be conveniently Within one group oramong the series of operators comprising both groups 7 and 8. Adjacentthe station of the heel litters 7 and 8 a suit. able divided conveyor 9is preferably provided. The conveyor 9 maybe of any suitable'type suchas for instance a belt conveyor and is preferably centrally divided bysuitable partition, such as 11 in order that segregation of separatecases is possiblewhen separate cases are supplied the groups 7 and 3.After the heel tters have performed their operations upon the heel seat,which generally consists of trimming and fitting the heel in position,the individual shoes with the corresponding heels may be laid upon theconveyor 9 by which they are transported toward the end thereof.

Adjacent the end `of the conveyor 9 a plurality of heel attachingstations 12 and 13 are provided. In th embodiment here shown, the heelattacher 12 may operate upon the output of the group of heel tters 7while the attacher 13 may operate .on the output of the group of heeltters 8. In view of the fact -that the period of time required for theheel attaching operation at stations 12 and 13 is considerably shorterthan the period of time required to properly fit a Wooden heel and forma heel seat, it is possible for one heel attacher to accommodate theentire output of the four individual operators which comprise theseparate groups. It is to be understood, however, that the invention isnot limited to a system in which the group of heel tters consists offour operators, since it will be readily apparent that with the use ofsome types of heel fitting machines the operators may produce a greaterquantity of work in some instances than is produced by hand operation,and it is to be understood, therefore,

that the number of operators comprising thel various series and groupsof this invention may be varied in accordance with operating conditions.

From this point, the route provided for shoes which are provided withthe so-called Louis heels is quite different from the route followed byshoes provided with Cuban or Box heels, by the fact that the former areprovided with a leaf that must be treated and fitted against the breastof the heel, whereas no such operation is necessary with the Cuban orBox heels.

When the heel attachers 12 and 13 conclude their operations upon shoesprovided with heels of the Louis type, the shoes may be'deposited upon aconvenient conveyor or chute 14,- which is preferably centrally dividedby a suitable partition 15 in order to maintain the individual casessegregated. Positioned adjacent the chute or conveyor 14 a skiver 16 maybe provided. The duty of the skiver 16, generally comprises roughlytrimming the leaf to size and shape of the heel, as well as skiving theedges thereof and since it is apparent that such operations as theserequire a relatively short period of time, one such operator issufficient to handle the combined output of heel attachers 12 and 13.

-The skiver 16, upon completion of his operaorder that the separatecases may be maintained.

in segregation and at the end of the conveyor or chute 17 is provided astation for a series of -operators 19 whose duties for instance consistin tacking the sole directly in front of the breast line of the heel andperhaps' performing a sanding operation upon the joint formed betweenthe breast of the heel and the adjacent sole portion. In view of thefact that such operation ordinarily requires substantially twice theperiod of time required for the operation of the skiver 16 upon eachindividual shoe, the output of the skiver 16 is divided between therespective operators 19. When the operators 19 have concluded theiroperations the shoes may be deposited upon a suitable chute or conveyor20, also preferably centrally divided by suitable partition 21 in orderto maintain the individual cases of shoes segregated.

At station 22 adjacent the end of the conveyor or chute 20, an operatoris provided whose duty it is to apply suitable cement to the breast ofthe heel as well as to the leaf, and disposed immediately behind thecementing station 22 may be provided a suitable drier such`as 23 of anysuitable type, such as for instance that disclosed in to. `The drier isalso preferably divided centrally by a suitable partition or marker 24,in

order that the respective cases of shoes may be maintained insegregation. It may be pointed out that the drier 23 is preferably of aconveying type, moving at a suiiiciently slow rate of speed that sucienttime will lapse between the depositing of shoes thereon until removalthereof that the cement applied at station 22 will have suflicient timeto set.

After the drier 23 has moved through sufiicient distance to bring theshoes into position adjacent operators station 25, the respectiveoperators 25 remove the shoes from `the corresponding sides of the drier23 and perform a so-called laying-up operation upon the shoes whichconsists in laying the sole-leaf upl against the breast of the heel andrubbing out the creases in order that a smooth surface results. It is`apparent that such operation as this requires considerably more timethan the application of cement and accordingly there are in theembodiment illustrations in the drawings providing two operators atstation 25, while there is provided but one operator at cementingstation 22.

From the 'operators at. station 2,5, the shoes may proceed throughVsuitable chutes or conveyors 26, also preferably centrally divided asby partition 27 to operators station 28 at which the operatorsaccurately trim the laid-up leaf against the breast of the shoe in orderto bring the same into conformity with the heel and upon completion ofthis operation the shoes proceed through a suitable chute or conveyor29, preferably provided with a divided partition such as for instance31.-

Adjacent the end the chute or conveyor 29 is a brushing station 32, itdepending upon the extent of the brushing necessary in a particularfactory, either one or two operators may be pro- -vided to brush theoutput of the system just def scribed along the heel portion. Uponthecompletion of this brushing operation the shoes may be deposited in asuitable chute or conveyor as 33, by which theyare conducted to a seriesof operators 34 whose duty it is to trim the front overlapping edge ofthe top lift into conformity and alignment with the breast of the heel,it being understood that it is the usual practice in shoe factories inthe manufacture of Louis heeled shoes that the front portion of the toplift be not trimmed until the flap is laid-up. In view of the fact thatsuch a trimming operation takes place.

at 34 requires but little time, the operators'thereat may deposit shoes'upon completion of the trimming operation upon one of the racks 35. Asone of the racks 35 becomes completely filled, the operator who performsthe cutting operation at 34, andv who has just filled the rack may movethe same into a drier 36, which may be' of any suitable well known typeand may or may not be provided with suitable mechanism for advancing therespective racks therethrough after being placed in positions 37. It maybe pointed out thatvthe chute 33 is considerably larger than the variouschutes or conveyors which have heretofore been referred to and it isapparent that with a chute thus formed the operators at 34 will havesufficient time to move the racks 35 to position 37 within the drier 36and without blocking the system, in view of the fact that a substantialquantity of shoes may accumulate within the chute 33 without blockingthe same.

The arrangement of operatorsstations referred to may be convenientlydenominated as a team, it

being understood that the arrangement just described is complete withinitself for cooperation upon shoes which are provided with heels of theLouis type. Thereis, however, in the embodiment illustrated in Figure l,provided a duplicate unit or team to that which has just been described,but it will be distinctly understood that one such team may be readilyoperated without operating the other and it is apparent, therefore, thatthe system is extremely flexible and may be accommodated to thenecessary output of the factory in which it is installed.

Conveniently positioned between the team or unit just described and theduplicate unit or team 38, an operators station 39 is provided. Asuitable chute or conveyor 41 extends from position adjacent to thestation of the attacher 12 to the station 39 andlikewise 'a similarchute or conveyor 42 is positioned for transporting shoes from theattacher 13 to the station 39 and similar conveyors or chutes areprovided for conveying shoes from the attacher stations of the duplicateunit 38 to the station 39. The function of the operator stationed at 39is one of dressing or finishing the joint between the soleand a heel ofthe Box or Cuban type. V n o y It may be pointed out'that vin thefactory of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1 of thedrawings, theoutput of shoes provided with Box` or Cuban heels is much less than theoutput of shoes provided with Louis heels and accordingly it is`possible for one jointer stationed at 39 to handle the entire output ofboth of the teams of heel tters and attachers. In view of the fact,however, that when shoes provided with heels of the Cuban or Box type dobegin to come through their unit, they will invariably come of quantityapproaching that of an entire case, it is necessary to make someaccommodations adjacent the jointer 39 which will permit such shoes toaccumulate without blocking the entire system. It will be observed,therefore, that the chutes or conveyors .A

41 and 42, as well as the chutes or conveyors extending from theattachers of the duplicate unit 38 to the station 39 are of substantiallength and in this way it is possible for almost an entire case of shoesto be accumulated in one of the chutes or conveyors without blocking thesystem. Furthermore, in this manner the jointer stationed at 39 is as ageneral rule provided with work continuously regardless of the fact thatthe output of Cuban or Box heels is relatively small. Upon completion ofthe operations at station 39 the operator thereat may deposit the shoesoperated upon in a suitable-rack 43 which may be moved into the drier 36as were the racks 35 containing Louis heels.

After the racks of shoes have remained in the drier 36 for a timesufficient t`o properly temper the leather, the racks may be removedtherefrom, suchv as for instance from the opposite end of the drier tothat at which they entered, and from thence theyproceed to the finishingoperations such as for instance the system of each trimmer designatedgenerally as 44 which system is more fully described in my co-pendingapplication, Serial No.530,266 led April 15. 1931.

Referring now particularly to Figure 2, the environment of the system ofthe type just described is diagrammatically illustrated. The systemsillustrated in Figure 2 are preferably arranged in such a manner withina room of a shoe factory that work coming into the particular room mayproceed down one wall thereof across the back thereof and return alongthe opposite wall in the direction opposite to that which it rst moved.In the particular embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 the entrance to theroom which may be an elevator or doorway may be, for instance disposedat the lower right hand corner of the drawings. It will be apparent,

therefore, that when work which in the present instance will be lastedshoes is brought into the room through the doorway just referred to itwill be distributed among the various pounders 45, andfrom thenceproceed to the series or' ironers 46, after which, if the shoes be of adelimediate stations 48 and 49, however, soles corresponding to theshoes upon the conveyor which operates to transport the shoes from thepound- 4ing-up stations 49 through the system, may be the shoes with thesols thus attached reach station 51, theyare delasted and proceed tostitchers 52, after which they may berelasted as as station 53 and arethen delivered to operators stationed at 54, whose duty it is toapply,ce ment to the channel flaps. After cementing the channel flaps asjust described, the shoes may be deposited upon suitable driers as 55and after remaining thereon for a sufficient time to permit the cementto set, the shoes are removed therefrom by operators at 56 whose duty itis to turn down the channel aps. At this point .in the embodimentillustrated in the drawings, the shoes are placed in the usual rackswhich may be subsequently located in position convenient for the batteryof levelers 57.

After the completion of the leveling operation, the various racks ofshoes may be distributed among the respective teams of heel tters,.attachers, and lflap appliers 58, 59, 61, each correspondingsubstantially to the system illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings andfully described hereinbefore. It will be noted that after the shoes havepassed through team 58 they are deposited in a rack 62 disposed adjacentthe top lift trimmer 34 as illustrated in Figure 1. Similarly the outputof team 59 may be deposited in suitable racks disposed in position 63and the output of team 61 may be deposited in suitable racks such as 64.After being deposited in the racks 62, 63 and 64, the respective racksmay then be moved into adrier corresponding to drier 36 of Figure 1 andallowed to remain for a sunicient time to permit proper temperingthereof before proceeding to the finishing room. It is apparent,therefore, that in .the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 the terminusor exit from the system (the last element of which is comprised of theheel fitting, attaching and flap applying systems) the completed work isdelivered to a position adjacent the entrance to the bottoming systemwhich originates with pounders 45 and which bottoming system furnishesthe subject matter of a co-pending application, SerialNo. 530,266, filedApril 15, 1931. With the various sub-systems, including the bottomingsystem and the heel attaching systems which have been hereinbeforedescribed, oo-ordinated, as in Figure 2, it is apparent that not only isthe entrance to the system disposed conveniently to the elevator orentrance to the room,l but that upon completion of the work, the pointwhere it Vmakes the exit from the system is also conveniently arrangedto the entrance of the room; and it is apparent, therefore, that themovement of Work through a room of a shoe factory arrangedas in Figure 2may be not only direct but free from impediments. Manipulation of thevarious racks may be thus accomplished with readiness and only near theentrance to the room; not as has been the case in the shoe factoriesheretofore, where great congestion has generally been prevalent.

In this specification reference has been had to various machines ordevices designated in accordance with the operations they are toperform; such as heel attachers, etc. Such machines or devices are wellknown and in common use in various shoe factories and are illustrated invarious catalogues, as well as patents, to which reference need not behad in order to enable those skilled in the art to obtain a fulldisclosure of the system embodying this invention. In many cases thevarious operations may be performed by hand and, in some cases, areperformed by hand. Heel fitting and heel attaching may be performedeither by hand or machine, while the heel flap is usually applied byhand. It is, therefore, to be understood, that where any operation isreferred to it contemplates not only a machine but also a station atwhich an operator may be positioned in the system to perform theoperation.

It will be seen from the above that the assemblies of shoe partsprogress from station to station, the stations being arranged in seriesshunt relation in accordance with their relative capacities. Forinstance one of the operators 7, and operators 12 and 16 operate inseries, and operators 16, 19 and 22 operate in shunt. Also, theoperators in either leg of the shunt operate in series.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that many modifications ofthe systemof manufacturing shoes and particularly the system vofattaching wooden heels to lasted shoes will present themselves to thoseskilled in the art, which modifications will not depart from the spiritof this invention.

It is to be distinctly understood that such modifications or the use ofsuch individual features or subcombinations of features as do not departfrom the spirit of this invention are, although not specificallydescribed herein, contemplated by and within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. The art of making shoes in which parts of shoes are assembled and theassemblies progressed to successive stations Where successive operationsare performed, characterized by the feature that the stations arearranged in series-shunt relation in accordance with relativecapacities, that the assemblies are conveyed from a selected anteriorstation and guided directly to and distributed between several'selectedposterior stations, and that the assemblies are conveyed from saidseveral selected posterior stations and guided directlyy and moved to aselected and more posterior station.

2. The art of making shoes in which parts of shoes are assembled and theassemblies progressed to successive stations where successive operationsare performed, characterized by the feature that the stations arearranged in series-shunt relation in accordance with their relativecapacities, and that the assemblies are conveyed from a selectedanterior station and guided directly to and distributed between severalselected posterior stations and subsequently conveyed from saidseveralselected posterior stations and guided directly in a.plurality ofpaths' to a selected but more posterior station.,

3. The art'of making shoes in which parts of shoes are assembled andvthe assemblies progressed to successive stations where successiveoperations are performed, characterized by the feature that the stationsare arranged in seriesshunt relation in accordance with their relativecapacities, and that the assemblies are conveyed from a selectedanterior station and guided directly to and distributed between severalselected posterior stations and subsequently conveyed from at least twoof said selected posterior stathat the assemblies are conveyed from aselected anterior station Aand guided directly to and distributedbetween several selected posterior .stations, said assemblies at asubsequent period being' convergingly conveyed and guided directly to atleastone more posterior station.

MYRON O. FROST.

